Monday, August 20, 2012

Another Lethal Case Of Right-Wing Terrorism, And Media Yawn

Police say at least two of the seven suspects arrested
for the fatal shooting of two Louisiana sheriffs deputies last Thursday
are connected to the anti-government “sovereign citizen” movement.

According to WBRZ-TV, 28-year-old Kyle Joekel and 44-year-old Terry
Smith had identified themselves as part of the movement, which was
classified as a domestic terror group last year by the FBI.

Joekel and Smith, along with several members of Smith’s family and
other associates, were arrested following an ambush on authorities in
LaPlace, Louisiana, about 25 miles west of New Orleans. Deputies Brandon
Nielsen and Jeremy Triche were killed in the ensuing shootout. Two more
deputies were wounded.

We've been writing about -- and warning about -- the sovereign citizens movement for a long time now, but now it seems it's just part of the American woodwork. ABC News picked up on this story, but so far, that's been the reach.

And Fox News? Fuggaboutit. They're too busy denouncing the lack of
coverage in last week's FRC shooting -- in which no one was killed -- to
pay attention to yet another case of right-wing domestic terrorism.

See Juan Williams on The O'Reilly Factor last week, hosting Rich Noyes from Brent Bozell's right-wing Media Research Center, complaining loudly about the lack of coverage:

WILLIAMS: Well, why don't they see something to follow up
with. Rich, I don't care if you are a liberal or conservative. The idea
of people walking in with guns to attack people that they have
political differences with is outrageous.

And I just can't believe that the networks won't pay attention to the
story. But it's got to be that they don't like the conservative
direction of the Family Research Council and the fact that they condemn
gay marriage. I mean, is that the obvious answer or am I wrong.

NOYES: I think that is absolutely obvious answer.

Yes, that obviously must be the answer, Juan, considering that we can point to more than fifty incidents in the past four years
involving domestic terrorism committed by right-wing extremists (we're
actually up to about 72 cases, but we'll have more on that later), and
in only about a third of those cases was there any media coverage at
all.

In contrast, every single case of the 30 or so so-called "Islamist"
domestic terrorism has produced national media coverage, as have most
cases of animal-rights, eco-terror or anarchist violence (which are
significantly smaller in number).

So maybe when Fox News can actually cover incidents of right-wing
terrorism AS what they are -- namely, right-wing terrorism -- instead of
assiduously and loudly pronouncing that they are no such thing
-- and when cases of left-wing terrorism begin to pile up the way
right-wing terrorism has in recent years, well, then it might be
possible to consider their complaint legitimate.

Now, Daryl Johnson -- the author of that report -- has penned a contemplative piece about this in the wake of the recent Sikh temple massacre by a white supremacist with military training:

I learned that politicians, political parties and those that support
them (including the media) will go to great lengths to undermine the
opposition. For this reason, everyone should take a moment to better
understand how politicizing domestic intelligence impacts national
security as well as the safety of our communities. Politicizing
intelligence has its consequences.

Since the DHS warning concerning the resurgence of right-wing
extremism, 27 law enforcement officers have been shot (16 killed) by
right-wing extremists. Over a dozen mosques have been burned with
firebombs – likely attributed to individuals embracing Islamaphobic
beliefs. In May 2009, an abortion doctor was murdered while attending
church, two other assassination plots against abortion providers were
thwarted during 2011 and a half-dozen women’s health clinics were
attacked with explosive and incendiary devices over the past two years.

In January 2010, a tax resister deliberately crashed his small plane
filled with a 50-gallon drum of gasoline into an IRS processing center
in Austin, Texas; in January 2011, three incendiary bombs were mailed to
government officials in Annapolis, Md., and Washington, D.C.; also, in
January 2011, a backpack bomb was placed along a Martin Luther King Day
parade route in Spokane, Wash.; and, during 2010-2012, there have been
multiple plots to kill ethnic minorities, police and other government
officials by militia extremists and white supremacists.

The Sikh temple shooting in Oak Creek, Wis., and the shooting of four
sheriff’s deputies in St. Johns Parish, La., in August are only the
latest manifestations of right-wing extremist violence in the U.S. Yet,
there have been no hearings on Capitol Hill about this issue. DHS still
has only one analyst monitoring domestic terrorism. The federal
government’s failure to recognize the domestic terrorism threat tells me
there will assuredly be more attacks to come.

Sara Robinson has worked as an editor or columnist for several national magazines, on beats as varied as sports, travel, and the Olympics; and has contributed to over 80 computer games for EA, Lucasfilm, Disney, and many other companies. A native of California's High Sierra, she spent 20 years in Silicon Valley before moving to Vancouver, BC in 2004. She currently is pursuing an MS in Futures Studies at the University of Houston. You can reach her at srobinson@enginesofmischief.com.